3of 3Toby Cole, center, waits in line to vote at Nottingham Park last fall. The Houston attorney is among disability rights advocates who praised a judge's critical remarks about polling access.Photo: James Nielsen, Staff

A federal judge in Houston put Harris County on notice Friday that the scope of accessibility violations at local polling places could be so vast that a special master may be needed to sort them out.

U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett said he is considering an independent review of the county's 765 polling locations to ensure they are accessible to disabled voters.

The revelation, which could have far-reaching consequences for the county's voting system, came to light during a routine hearing Friday in a civil rights suit filed several months before the November general election.

"We're talking about something that really needs an intensive review," the judge told the teams of lawyers in the courtroom. "There's no blanket order I can give. We're going to have to look at almost each of these sites or on a site-by-site basis."

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit last year, accusing Harris County of violating the constitutional mandate that voting sites comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Among the violations cited in the lawsuit - in a county with more than 400,000 people with disabilities - are a lack of appropriate parking, ramps, sidewalks, entry ways, voting space and other mandatory accommodations.

The judge's remarks drew praise from disability rights advocates.

"Bringing in a special master is monumental because you're saying there is a problem and it needs to be watched," said Toby Cole, a Houston attorney who has closely watched the case. "It would be a significant move to make sure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected, and voting is probably the most fundamental of those rights."

Robert Soard, first assistant to the Harris County Attorney, said after the hearing that it would be premature to comment about the prospect of a special master overseeing accessibility of voting sites.

The appointment of a special master to oversee a government entity would bring independent oversight and scrutiny to the system.

Special masters have been used in Texas recently to address institutional problems within Child Protective Services and foster care, and to oversee violations decades ago in the state prison system.

Under consideration

Bennett, who has served on the federal bench since 2015, asked the attorneys Friday to return with specific details about the range of problems at local voting sites.

"It may be we're talking about a large-scale review of polling locations," he said. "That can't be the best use of the court's time."

Elizabeth Johnson, the lead attorney on the case for the Justice Department, said she anticipates a need for temporary fixes at polling sites - such as adding traffic cones or temporary ramps - rather than permanent fixes.

In some cases, for example, the angle of temporary ramps is dangerously steep, in violation of federal guidelines, she said.

Lawyer Laura Beckman Hedge with the Harris County Attorney's Office suggested the judge might first rule on the county's motion to dismiss the case altogether, explaining that disability advocates weren't burning up the phone lines or knocking at the door requesting the fixes.

She argued that the justice department does not have standing to bring the case if no one locally is complaining about the county's voting sites.

Bennett said he would set a hearing within two or three months. In the meantime, he said would take the question of a special master and the county's motion for dismissal under consideration.

'Barrier to access'

Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart, who oversees local elections, said the lawsuit is frivolous, politically motivated and centered on insignificant technicalities at sites the county doesn't own.

"When the DOJ brought this lawsuit they had zero people who were complaining," he said. "To the best of my knowledge, we don't know of anyone who had an issue."

Among the locations the Justice Department cited was the multiservice center at West Gray, which Stanart said was supposedly in violation "because if you were a 6 ½-foot blind person who came in the back door, your head would brush a limb."

In another case, Stanart said, a handicapped parking spot had stripes painted, but the handicap sign wasn't in the right place.

"Do they think these voters are idiots?" he said.

Stanart said his office picks the best location to serve voters in each precinct and believes, overall, that the county is largely in compliance.

Lex Frieden, a professor of rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine who helped President George H.W. Bush with early drafts of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said he thinks the county should be proactive about fixing problems or amenable to making the changes the Justice Department has identified.

"I'm mystified about the defensiveness of the county," said Frieden, who uses a wheelchair.

Cole, who is quadriplegic, said disabled voters may feel embarrassed to ask volunteers for help. He recalled an election a few years ago when in order to cast his vote he had to "pop a wheelie" to enter the back door of a small church that didn't have a ramp.

"What would normally be a minor inconvenience for anybody else is a barrier to access," he said. "You just want to have the same opportunity as everybody else to show up at your polling place."

Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. She has been a criminal justice and legal affairs reporter for nearly two decades, including staff work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Los Angeles Times, and freelance work for The New York Times, The Mercury News, Newsday and The Miami Herald. She has a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. Before her years as a reporter, she worked as a teacher, social worker and organizer.